BUDAPEST, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian government is creating a 663 billion-forint (1.96 billion-U.S. dollar) special fund to fight the novel coronavirus epidemic, Gergely Gulyas, head of the Prime Minister's Office, said here on Saturday.
The government will also reallocate 1,345 billion forints from ministry budgets to a fund aimed at protecting and restarting the economy, Gulyas said at a press briefing, adding that the government will mandate political parties, multinational retail chains, banks and local governments to contribute their fair share to fighting the virus.
While these measures will take effect from April 15 or May 1, the government also aims at deeply reorganizing the budget.
Meanwhile, Hungarian chief medical officer Cecilia Muller told an online conference on Saturday that Hungary had avoided an explosion of coronavirus infections thanks in large part to the effective and timely response measures put in place.
Hungary's preventive measures against the virus have proven effective even in international comparison, Muller stressed, adding that at the same time, the country was "on the brink of mass infections."
According to official figures, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Hungary stood at 678 on Saturday, with 58 recoveries and 32 fatalities. (1 U.S. dollar = 337.46 Hungarian forints)
